Whinlatter Trail Centre, Lake District

Whinlatter Trails

The trail centre at Whinlatter forest is at the northern edge of the Lake District nation park. A few miles from Keswick the trail centre overlooks Bassenthwaite and Derwent water.

The centre has a large car park, excellent cafe, visitor centre along with other attractions such a Go Ape, so you can leave the family having fun while you sneak a ride in should you need to 😉

There are two trails that go out from the centre graded red and blue, both offer stunning Lakeland views.

Altura Trail

The Altura Trail puts the mountain back into biking and has been built for experienced riders with good off road skills and a higher level of fitness and stamina.

Supported by Zyro, makers of Altura Clothing and mountain bike products, The Altura Trail puts the mountain back into biking and has been built for experienced riders with good off road skills and a higher level of fitness and stamina.

The trail is a 14 kilometre red grade mountain bike route. There are challenging single track sections and popular features like berms, jumps, rock features, skinnies, cork screws and table tops. There are also fantatsic views of Derwent water, Bassenthwaite, Helvelyn and Skiddaw as the trail takes the rider to an altitude of 500m (1600ft) above Keswick.

Quercus Trail

This fantastic blue grade route is 7.5km long with a shorter 3.5 km option. It is a gem waiting to be discovered, expect flowing single track with gentle berms, rolling jumps, wide gradual climbs with technical features for the adventurous riders.

The trail starts down hill with sweeping intricate bends requiring hardly any peddling, then climbs up and bends and twists its way until riders came face to face with the Big Whinlatter Bike Trail Wall, a double banked bend within the forest. After climbing up through oak woodland the trail crosses a bridge and into the darker conifer forest. The trail finishes with the hollow sound of a raised board walk over a bog and through a mystical forest of towering conifers.

The Quercus Trail is named after the Latin for Oak (Quercus Petraea) because the furthest loop of the trail runs through the Masmill Oak Woodland.